Sales of new and old $1 million-plus Gold Coast units have dropped below the long-term average but there is hope that international investors will help absorb new stock within three years.

Colliers International has recorded 240 sales worth more than $1 million through 2011, down from 321 in 2010, a 25 per cent drop.

Colliers director of residential Tony Holland said further off-the-plan sales made last year and due to settle this year in the $850 million Soul tower at Surfers Paradise and the $90 million Eclipse project at Broadbeach would probably help lift last year’s number.

“The much talked about oversupply of $1 million plus apartments will self-correct in an orderly manner, and in as little as three years we may in fact be facing a shortage of $1 million plus new apartments," Mr Holland said.

He said Chinese buyers made up 40 per cent of all residential purchases on the Gold Coast in fiscal 2011 and would help underpin the market for units worth over $1 million.

“Under our foreign investment rules, the internationals can only buy new apartments, so I think the new stock could get cleared up a lot faster than everyone thinks."

The $1 million-plus market for units peaked in 2007 with 725 units sold.

Colliers International Gold Coast research manager Lynda Campbell said that year was an aberration.

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“Since then, the volume has remained relatively stable, with the number of settled unit sales per year averaging 320 over the past four years," Ms Campbell said.

Colliers is advising global giant Morgan Stanley on its newly acquired property loan book on the Gold Coast, which includes the Soul tower. There are no units within Soul that sell for less than $1 million.

Colliers records showed the strongest sales volumes were within the $1 million to $1.9 million price range, comprising 200 of the 240 sales.

While Colliers’ Mr Holland predicts there could be a shortage of $1 million plus apartments in three years, there are plenty of new residential developments that have been mooted for the Gold Coast.

Planned and unplanned property development now totals $45 billion. There are 115 apartment projects worth a planned $10.9 billion alone for the Gold Coast.

Many developers and analysts expect billionaire apartment developer
Harry Triguboff
to be the first to get back into the market with his planned residential development at Southport.